Issue Playing MP3's from ESPN Radio on IpOd

[wesderby]

I have a 30GB iPod Video, running Rockbox (not sure which build, but I downloaded it late Saturday evening, around 10:30 PM Pacific time).  I'm a blind user, and I notice one of the things Rockbox doesn't read out loud is the version when I select that option.

My issue is this:  My music, most of it ripped in stereo at 128KBPS or higher, sounds great on my iPod with Rockbox running.  However, I've recently signed up for a trial of ESPN Radio's Insider service, which allows me to download podcasts of various ESPN shows that I don't get to catch while I'm at work.  I downloaded some segments from Dan Patric, Colin Cowherd, and The Sports Bash last night to listen to on my iPod.  They sound just fine on my computer, but when I try to play them on my iPod, they sound like really bad recordings from the black box of an airplane...Like an AM signal that just won't come in.

These files, according to Winamp, are at 32KBPS, 22 kHz, mono.  Again, all my music and other MP3s play fine.

So, may questions are:
Is there something I need to adjust in the settings to make these files play propperly?  Why would they sound fine on my computer, and almost inaudible on my Ipod?  Finally, is this a problem I'm likely going to encounter with all or most podcasts?

Hopefully, I've provided enough information for someone to be able to tell me what to do or show me where to look for the answers.

Thanks.

[Yotto]

I'm no Rockbox expert, but 32kbps, 22kHz mono is about as bottom of the barrel you can go without using an Atari 2600.

Maybe try reencoding them at 44.1kHz mono.  I *think* if you just use lame's default settings, it'll do that.  It may up the kbps.  Won't increase the acutal quality of the files, but it may make them more palatable to (and therefore in) Rockbox.

Assuming it's legal, you could post a link to one of the files, I know that helps the devs help you.

[wesderby]

I'm no Rockbox expert, but 32kbps, 22kHz mono is about as bottom of the barrel you can go without using an Atari 2600.

Maybe try reencoding them at 44.1kHz mono.  I *think* if you just use lame's default settings, it'll do that.  It may up the kbps.  Won't increase the acutal quality of the files, but it may make them more palatable to (and therefore in) Rockbox.

Assuming it's legal, you could post a link to one of the files, I know that helps the devs help you.

Unfortunately, there's no way I can think of to link to the files...They're only available for download if you're a paid member of ESPN Radio Insider, so the only way I could think of to do it would be to email one of the smaller files to someone to check out.
I'll try re-encoding them when I get home.  I've tried using the Winamp Transcoder, but it's not as feature-packed as I'd like; maybe I'll try with CDEX.

I agree; it is pretty bottom of the barrel; not sure why ESPN went with such low bitrates, especially if they want us to actually pay for the content.

[linuxstb]

I don't know if these are the same files, but they appear to be freely downloadable from here:

http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/index

[Llorean]

The resampling in Rockbox is pretty bad, so if it is the resampler causing the problem, reencoding at 44.1 should fix it.

[wesderby]

Thanks for the replies...I did try re-encoding at 64KBPS with Winamp's new Transcoder plug-in, and that seemed to make no difference.  I'll try some different things, and I'll see if these free podcasts are any better quality.

The link provided for the podcasts is slightly different from the "Insider" stuff...The podcasts are best-ofs and other content, whereas with the membership I have, you get the shows in their entirety without commercials.  I'll play around with some different bitrates and see if I can get somewhere tonight when I get home.

[Llorean]

You'll note that none of us suggested upping the bitrate, just the sample rate. There is an important difference.

[Lear]

Is there something I need to adjust in the settings to make these files play propperly?

Try turning off dithering. That should avoid the problem until the bug can be fixed.

[jhMikeS]

Bug should be fixed as of the 27 Feb 19:14 build...if I get errors, the one after that.  

[wesderby]

Thanks for all the replies...I'll try downloading the latest version of the firmware tonight.

I did take the suggestions about changing the sample rate...When I changed the sample rate to 44 or 48 kHz but left it in mono, it still sounded awful...When I changed the sample rate but changed my option to stereo, it was definitely more listenable...Still sounded like a worn-out cassette tape, but I think that's simply because of the low bitrate ESPN uses to encode their files.  So, the changing the sampling rate and changing it to stereo from mono worked.

Thanks again...And I'll be checking out the latest version tonight or over the weekend.